Reliance on glycolysis has been correlated with disease progression in cancer, and as well as a consistent and significant increase in activity of hexokinase, phosphofructokinase and pyruvate kinase. Hypoxia is also a feature of many solid cancers and has been linked to malignant transformation, metastasis and treatment resistance. Furthermore, glycolysis in cancer cells can be enhanced by certain oncogenes through the increased expression of glucose transporters and glycolytic enzymes found on tumor cells.
A serious disadvantage of treating glioblastoma is the harmful effects on normal cells and tissue. Furthermore, the mutagenic potential of certain anti-neoplastic therapies often promotes tumor resistance and can initiate other malignancies. A need exists, therefore, for cancer treatments to be developed for highly glycolytic cancer cells such as glioblastoma with little or no toxicity towards normal cells.